receive

verb, noun — 11 senses

receive

verb

/ɹɪˈsiːv/

Etymology From Middle English receyven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere (“take back, accept, etc.”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to take”); see capacious. Compare conceive, deceive, perceive. Displaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (e.g. afon, anfon, afangen, underfangen, etc. "to receive" from Old English -fōn), native Middle English thiggen (“to receive”) (from Old English þiċġan), and non-native Middle English aquilen, enquilen (“to receive”) (from Old French aquillir, encueillir).

10 senses
  1. 1To be given, sent, or paid something.
  2. 2To take, as something that is offered; to accept.
  3. 3To take goods knowing them to be stolen.
  4. 4To act as a host for guests; to give admittance to; to…
  5. 5To incur (an injury).
  6. 6To allow (a custom, tradition, etc.); to give credence…
  7. 7To detect a signal from a transmitter.
  8. 8To be in a position to hit back a service.
  9. 9To be in a position to catch a forward pass.
  10. 10To accept into the mind; to understand.
1

To be given, sent, or paid something.

  • He received many presents for his birthday.
  • Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 305:
1 more example
  • In America alone, people spent $170 billion on "direct marketing"—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, London: Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 May 2013, page 74:
2

Dated To take, as something that is offered; to accept.

  • He had the offer of employment, but he would not receive it.
  • Our hearts receiue your warnings.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 235, column 1:
3 more examples
  • The idea of solidity we receive by our touch.1689, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding:
  • [T]he braſen Altar that was before the Lord was too little to receiue the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 8:64, column 1:
  • And afterwards Thou [God] receivedst Seth and Enoch, and Enoch Thou translatedst; for Thou art the Creator of men, the Fountain of Life, the Supplier of Want, the Giver of Laws, the Rewarder of them that keep them, the Avenger of them that transgress them.1873, Thomas Wimberley Mossman, quoting Pope Clement I (in translation), “The Genuine and Supposititious Writings of St. Clement”, in A History of the Catholic Church of Jesus Christ: From the Death of Saint John to the Middle of the Second Century: […], London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 58:
3

Law To take goods knowing them to be stolen.

4

To act as a host for guests; to give admittance to; to permit to enter, as into one's house, presence, company, etc.

  • to receive a lodger, visitor, ambassador, messenger, etc.
  • And the barbarous people ſhewed vs no little kindneſſe: for they kindled a fire, and receiued us euery one becauſe of the preſent raine, and becauſe of the cold.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 28:2, column 1:
1 more example
  • In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for the select circle—a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening for a pipe and a cheerful glass. [...] Strangers might enter the room, but they were made to feel that they were there on sufferance; they were received with distance and suspicion.1892, Walter Besant, “The Select Circle”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 46:
5

To incur (an injury).

  • I received a bloody nose from the collision.
  • But because this is oftentimes dangerous, and much hurt hath been received thereby through casualty of fire, I advise the sticking four stakes into the earth, at least five feet above the ground [...]1804, Robert Wissett, On the Cultivation and Preparation of Hemp:
6

To allow (a custom, tradition, etc.); to give credence or acceptance to.

  • For the Phariſes and all the Jewes, except they waſh their hands oft, eate not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they waſh, they eate not. And many other things there be, which they have receiued to hold, as the waſhing of cups and pots, braſen veſſels, and of tables.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 7:3–4, column 2:
7

Communications, Electrical engineering, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Telecommunications To detect a signal from a transmitter.

› To be in a position to take possession, or…

8

Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Squash, Tennis To be in a position to hit back a service.

9

American football, Ball games, Football, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To be in a position to catch a forward pass.

10

To accept into the mind; to understand.

  • I cannot receive [translating recevoir] that manner, whereby we establish the continuance of our life.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 57, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
Synonyms
acquire, accept, attain, come by, cop, enlist, fang, gain, garner, get, get hold of, get one's hands on, land, lay hands on, lay hold of, obtain, procure, receive, secure, score, snag, take, win
Antonyms
give, lose, sell, get rid of, unacquire, unget
Derived terms
at the receiving end, autoreceive, misreceive, on the receiving end, receivability, receiving blanket, receiving house, receiving line, receiving reservoir, receiving ship, receiving time, receiving yard, RX, television receive-only, transceive
Related terms
receipt, receivable, receivableness, receival, receiveable, receiver, receivership, receptacle, reception, receptionist, receptive, recipient, receiving, deserve
Hypernyms
transfer
Hyponyms
accumulate, beg, borrow, blag, collect, earn, eke out, finagle, find, gather, hire, inveigle, purchase, preobtain, reap, scavenge, snaffle

receive

noun

Etymology From Middle English receyven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere (“take back, accept, etc.”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to take”); see capacious. Compare conceive, deceive, perceive. Displaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (e.g. afon, anfon, afangen, underfangen, etc. "to receive" from Old English -fōn), native Middle English thiggen (“to receive”) (from Old English þiċġan), and non-native Middle English aquilen, enquilen (“to receive”) (from Old French aquillir, encueillir).

1

Communications, Electrical engineering, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Telecommunications An operation in which data is received.

  • In the sonification of the PDE code, notes are scattered throughout a wide pitch range, and sends and receives are relatively balanced; although in the beginning of the application there are bursts of sends […]1992, Tara M. Madhyastha, A Portable System for Data Sonification, page 71:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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